DoLS explained for families: a protection, not a punishment

Few official phrases alarm families like "deprivation of liberty." A letter arrives saying the care home has applied for an authorisation, an assessor wants to visit, and suddenly it sounds as though something has gone wrong. Almost always, the opposite is true.

When a person can’t consent to their care arrangements — because of dementia, a brain injury or a learning disability — and those arrangements involve continuous supervision without freedom to leave, the law requires an independent check. That check is the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The application is not an accusation against the care home or the family; it is the legal system making sure the arrangement is genuinely right for the person.

For families, the most important thing to know is that your voice is evidence. The Best Interest Assessor must consult you, and what you know — who your relative was and is, what mattered to them, what they would have chosen — shapes the assessment in a way no care record can.

The second most important thing: safeguards continue after authorisation. A representative stays in contact with your relative, conditions can be attached to improve their care, reviews can be requested whenever circumstances change, and decisions can be challenged in the Court of Protection with non-means-tested legal aid.

Our free family information pack explains the whole process in plain English, and is available in accessible formats. Call 01482 770330 or email admin@libertyassessments.co.uk and we’ll send it out the same day.